Container construction



Sept.. 1, 1942. BLAIR 2,294,652

CONTAINER CONSTRUCTION Filed Jan. 24, 1941 INVENTOR ,Benfon ,Blair 'ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 1, 1942 2,294,652 CONTAINER 'ooNsTRUoTIoN Benton Blair, Bronxville, N. Y., assignor of fortyfive per cent to John C. Blair, Stamford, Conn., and ten per cent to Joseph L. Lamia, Flushing,

Application January 24, 1941, Serial 'No. 375,709 7 2 Claims.

This invention relates to a container and more particularly to a container which may be easily and quickly opened.

One of the. objects of this invention is to provide a container which is simple, thoroughly practical, and durable in use. Another object is to provide a container of the above character which may be easily and quickly opened. Another object is to provide a construction of the above character which may be easily and inexpensively manufactured. A further object is to provide a construction of the above character, the use of which will require a minimum of change in the wrapping machinery now used with the type of container to be described hereinafter. A still further object is to provide a container of the above character which willbe neat and attractive in appearance. Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangements of parts, as will be exemplified in the structure to be hereinafter described, and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the following claims.

In the accompanying drawing in which is shown one of the various possible embodiments of my invention,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the body of the container before the application of wrapping material thereto;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the container shown in Figure 1 after the insertion of articles therein and the application of adhesive material thereto;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the container shown in Figure 1 after the wrapping material has been applied thereto; and,

Figure 4 is a perspective view illustrating the manner of opening the container through the application of diagonal pressure thereto.

This invention is directed primarily to that type of container which has four side walls made of cardboard or similar material and is covered with a light transparent paper similar in type to Cellophane. This paper forms the top and bottom walls of the container, providing windows through which the articles within the container may be viewed. This type of container is usually sold at news stands, cigar counters, and like places, and accordingly is usually opened by the purchaser without the aid of any instrument. Because of this and because of the elasticity and great strength of Cellophane paper, in the past great difficulty has been experienced in opening this type of container. It is another object of this invention to provide a container which overcomes the above-mentioned difficulty, as well as many others.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, and to Figure 1 in particular, the body of the container, generally indicated at I0, is preferably made of an elongated strip of light cardboard or similar material. Four creases are made in this strip dividing it into four side walls II, I2, I3, and I4, and a joining flap I5. The strip is then formed into a rectangular shape by bending it on the creases, and the joining flap I5 is secured by any suitable adhesive material to the free edge of side wall I I. Thus, the side walls of the-container are hingedly connected to each other, and said container may be distorted from its normal shape by the application of inward pressure to diagonally opposite corners thereof.

Next, the articles of food are placed within the body I0 (Figure 2). These are shown as crackers I6, which are positioned so that they are parallel both to each other and to one juxtaposed pair'ofthe side walls of body Ill. After the container is filled, two strips of adhesive material are appliedto the center portions of the outside surfaces of sidewalls II and I3. These strips preferably This. material is a light transparent paper, pref-' erably of "a type similar to Cellophane, and a sheet is wrapped around body I0 so that it covers side walls I2 and I4 (Figure 3) and the top and bottom or open ends of the container. The free edges of the sheet overlap midway between the top and bottom of side wall I 2 and are secured together by any suitable adhesive material to form a joining seam I9. The other edges of the sheet extend outwardly from side walls II and I3 a distance approximately equal to one half the width of these walls. As the manner of securing these outwardly extending portions of the sheet to side walls II and I3 is substantially similar, the description will be limited to the securing of the sheet to side wall I3.

The portions 20, which extend outwardly from the top and bottom edges of the container, are first folded inwardly in contact with the adhesive strip I8, which securely anchors the sheet to body Ill. The flaps 22 and 23 are next folded inwardly over portions 20 and are fastened in this position in any suitable manner, such as by a seal, indicated by dotted line 24:. Thus, it can be seen that the transparent paper forms the top pressed inwardly toward each other, causing body ID to bend on the crease lines between its side walls. This distorts the body-s=sha'pe, decreasing the distance between corners 28 and and increasing the distance between corners 3D and 3|. During the distortion of body [0, relative Thus, the Cellophane covering either the open top or bottom of the container may be easily and quickly removed by the application of pressure to any two diagonally positioned corners of the body of the container. It will thus be seen that I have provided a thoroughly practical and durable container of the type described, which may be easily and quickly opened and in which the several objects hereinabove mentioned, as well as many others, are accomplished.

I As many possible embodiments may be made of the above invention, and as many changes might be ,made in the embodiment above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter hereinabove set forth, or shown in the accom panying=drawing,' is to be interpreted as illusmovement between the transparent Ishetand the body is prevented by adhesive strips H and Thus, as corners 30 and 3! move away from eachother, a strain extending diagonally across window 21 (Figure iris-placed thereon. Finally either one or both of corners 30 and 3! break through window 21, making tears- 32; and Y33 therein. Bymeans ofthese tears, window 21 may be easily and-quicklyremoved, permitting ready access to the articles within the container. Thus, it can be seen that securing the transparent paper to the container causes it -to coact with the distortion of the container to form tears in the Windows thereof, permitting its-easy and quick-removal.v .The use of crackers of the type and packed in the manner described hereinabove may-be a material, although not a necessaryv aid tothe opening of this container. Such crackers, which are positioned so thatthey are parallel to one juxtaposed pair of side walls and areof a size. slightly less than the size of the side walls,with which they are in parallelism,. substantially fill the interior of the container. When pressure is applied to the container diagonal to an open endthereof to distort the container out of its normal shape, the crackers move lengthwise with respect to each otherand serveas supports which prevent the. side wallsfrom bending inwardly toward each other. Thus, ,these crackers .hold the side walls substantially parallel to each. other. during the distortion of thecontainer, and. as the greatest outward movementofcorners 30 and 3! (Figure .4) is obtained when the. sidewalls are parallel during distortion, itmay .be seen that crackersof the type described may be-a matee rial aid tothe operation of the construction.

trative and not in a, limiting sense.

I claim:

' article of manufacture comprising a packa e in the form of substantially a parallelepiped and comprising, a stack of slidably contacting relatively flat individual articles in face contacting relation one above the other, the top and bottom of the stack being referredto'as the end walls, an open-ended container portion I; formed of cardboard or the like and having four separatefside wallmembers hingedly connected together, two of said side wall members being positioned along said end walls of the stack and the other two wall members extending therebetween along opposite sides of the stack, the

lateral dimensions of said articles being such that said articles extend substantially between opposite sidewalls of said container, and arelatively thin readily frangible. wrapper tightly,

torted with opposed sides of said container portion substantially retaining their parallel rela- --g; tionship and with the corners of the container portion being effective tov initiate tearing action of. the, enclosure to thereby effect opening of the enclosure.

1 2..A package as described in claim 1 wherein said wrapper is formed'of a single sheet ofjfCellophane or the like having overlappinggedges and'with the corner portions of the sheet folded and sealed to said two side wall members adjacent said end walls of the stack. ,7

BENTON BLAIR. 

